Customizing Department Layouts

Departments are created, named and ordered on the Crew tab. How they sit on the printed back page is set on CS Back. The back page starts from the Crew tab order, and moving sections there does not change the crew list.

Add > Add Department creates one. Hover a department header to rename or delete it, or double-click the name to rename it. Drag the header by its handle to change the order. A new department or a rename reaches the CS Back on every day, sheets already built included. Deleting a department moves its crew to Unassigned, and Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac) brings the department back with them in it.

The crew list takes columns of your own. Click the + at the right end of the header row to open Add Custom Column. Give it a Column Name and pick a Column Type: Text, Dropdown or Checkbox. A Dropdown asks for its list of options. Once the list has custom columns, they sit together under a Custom group you can fold away when you need the room. They stay on the crew list; the call sheet back does not print them. Cast and Background take custom columns the same way.

On CS Back, open the gear (Layout Settings) in the floating controls. The Layout section holds:

• Reset: puts the default department layout back. That is 3 columns, auto-balance on, phone numbers off, empty departments shown and the standard department order
• Save: stores the current layout under a name. Save Custom Layout asks for a Layout Name, then Save Layout
• Load Saved, with a count: lists the saved layouts. Click one to apply it, or its bin to delete it
• Columns: 2 gives each entry more room. 3 is the default and fits more crew on the page
• Auto-Balance Columns: packs the sections so the columns come out level. Turn it off and each department stays in the column you drag it to
• Hide Empty Departments: drops sections with nobody in them. Catering always prints, because its section is meal counts
• Phone Numbers: prints crew phone numbers. It only works in the 2-column layout

Drag a department section to a new place. With Auto-Balance Columns off you can drop it into any column, and it stays there. The layout belongs to the production. Everyone on the show sees the same back page, on every day. Moving a department, changing the column count and switching auto-balance are all undoable with Ctrl+Z.

A saved layout keeps the department order, the column count and the phone number setting. It does not keep the columns you placed departments in by hand, or the Hide Empty Departments switch. Saved layouts are stored with the production, so every editor on the show sees the same list.

Reset uses this order: Production, Assistant Directors, Continuity, Camera, Sound, Video, Grip & Electric, Special Effects, Make-Up, Hair, Wardrobe, Art Department, Set Decoration, Construction, Locations, Medic / Fire Safety, Stunts, Visual Effects, Production Office, Accounting, Casting, Post Production, Catering, Transportation. A department of your own that is not on that list follows, in its Crew tab order. A department your show does not have takes no space.